


It Runs Deep

by Measured_Words



Category: Books of the Raksura - Martha Wells
Genre: Ember is a cinnamon bun and everybody knows it, Friendship, Gardening, Gossip, Politics, Raksuran Queens are many kinds of scary, past relationship drama, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 21:39:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11193975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured_Words/pseuds/Measured_Words
Summary: Moon stumbles across some unexpected and weird social awkwardness and chases it down.





	It Runs Deep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Frostanity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frostanity/gifts).



It was coincidence that Moon and Ember were both in the consort’s bower when Thistle popped in, looking excited and encouraging them to come quickly. 

"Blaze found some wild growing serra fern, and they’re making space for them in the garden!" she exclaimed before disappearing again, clearly confident that they would share her enthusiasm. 

Moon gave Ember a confused look – the younger consort's interest did seem piqued.

"Serra fern is what suncil snails eat," Ember explained. When that proved insufficient, he added, "And suncil snail shells are used to make a special gold dye. Only a few courts in the Reaches have the resources to produce it."

"Okay," Moon said, settling back down to resume his nap. He could feel Ember looking at him still, though, and cracked an eye.

"It's important to them…"

And Moon sighed, because he was right. And if Ember went and he didn't, Blaze and the others would feel put out. Ember was too polite to do that to him, but also too polite to want to snub the Arbora completely, either. "I'm coming," he grumbled, understanding Stone's reluctance to ever be easily found.

Clearly the news of the exciting discovery had been spreading, as the pair passed several others making their way towards the garden, and a few groups gossiping about the best way to ensure that the new plants flourished, speculating as to how they'd come to be where they were found, or scheming about how acquire the needed snails. The ferns might well have been an unexpected delegation from another court for all the stir they were causing, and Moon was boggled all over again at how worked up the Arbora could get over some plants.

With such disruption of routine, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that they would have unexpected run-ins, and when the two consorts emerged onto the platform overlooking the garden, they found River and Drift mid-conversation. The pair clammed up, and without another word, River shifted and leapt off the platform, flying up to a higher branch and disappearing inside the tree. His clutchmate followed with something of a nervous look at the two consorts.

Moon blinked after them. He was used to River avoiding him, but this seemed different. He glanced over at Ember, who seemed completely unconcerned, peering down at the Arbora fussing in the garden on the lower platform.

"Should we go down?" he asked Moon, as though nothing strange had just happened, and Moon found himself agreeing, and then too busy obliging the excited Arbora to put more thought into the scene.

The next time he encountered River, both were alone. Moon had been coming up from the nurseries, and River had been coming back in from an expedition with the hunters (a less exciting one this time). It was much more what Moon had come to expect – River surly but generally deferential, as though he was fighting with his pride and barely winning. They passed each other in the corridor without speaking.

Moon was three paces past him when the realization hit. It hadn't been Moon that River had fled from. It had been Ember. It sort of made sense, since Ember's arrival had displaced River from Pearl's bower, and from any authority he'd had in the court as well. But Moon had been the focus of River's resentment too, and there had been more to that encounter. And Ember had been completely nonplussed. He'd never spoken about River at all as far as Moon could recall. In retrospect, it seemed odd.

"Hey, wait," he called, turning around. 

River slowed, stiffened, and turned, his expression cautious. "What."

Moon looked him up and down, considering. "What's up with you and Ember?"

River hissed. "Nothing."

Well, what had he expected. But it was almost too easy to provoke him, so he just looked unimpressed and said, "Sure."

Predictably, River drew himself up to his full height, doing his best to loom. "Stay out of it, Moon."

It was easy to think of follow-up taunts, but harder to deliver them at River's wheeling back. It was still satisfying to get a rise out of River and to see him humbled, but this felt like something Moon should understand rather than dismissing as one of the many impenetrable mysteries of Raksuran Court politics. He didn't like River, but he was used to him now, and knew him well enough to read his reactions. He felt threatened, or maybe was scared, but not of Moon: of Ember.

When Ember had first arrived, Moon had worried that River might try to take out his frustrations at being replaced on the new consort. When that hadn't happened, he'd figured that maybe even River wasn't that dumb – Pearl would have been furious. But now Moon wondered if something else wasn't at work. He wasn't sure who to ask about it, though. Ember didn’t want to acknowledge that anything had happened. He didn't like to involve Jade in these sorts of things, and while Chime would likely know the gossip, he was understandably incapable of being rational where River was concerned. 

Moon had mostly managed to put it out of his mind, but he happened to run into Vine alone as he was leaving Pearl's bower in the Queen's hall, and it occurred to him that the Warrior might have some insight. He'd taken over from River as the head of Pearl's faction, but he'd also made clear that he'd never approved of how River had gone about his duties, either. Vine was as prone to posturing as any other male warrior, sure, but he wasn't a bully.

"Hey," Moon said before he talked himself into thinking this was a bad idea, and none of his business anyway. 

Vine looked over at him, slightly wary. The factions that supported the two Queens weren't exactly at odds, but they didn't always get along, either. "What?"

"This is probably a stupid question…" It was a stupid question, and Moon knew he was probably the only one in the court who didn't know the answer already. "…but what's the deal with Ember and River?"

Vine gave him a sly look, then just sighed and shook his head, as if the politics weren't worth the effort. He looked around, scratching the back of his neck while Moon waited impatiently. "Well, you are first consort. I guess you should probably know. Come on."

Vine led Moon up to his own bower, which was thankfully empty despite the obvious signs that others frequently shared the space. He picked up a heating kettle and poured them each a cup of tea, and Moon started to suspect that his instincts were right, and that it was something more serious.

"So," Vine started once they were both comfortable, "what do you know?"

Moon shrugged. "Not much. I knew they didn't interact much, but that made sense. But I ran into River with Ember the other day, and he practically ran away. It seemed excessively dramatic." And unlike River, which hardly needed to be said.

"Well – you weren't here while Ember was settling in, but I'm sure you can imagine that River wasn't very happy once he realized what was happening."

"Did he try his usual welcome with Ember?" Moon still remembered his first day in the colony, though it felt like many more turns ago that it actually was. But he had been a feral solitary. Ember was a well-bred consort from a court that they were trying to repair relations with.

Vine shook his head. "I'm not sure exactly what he was planning…. But the Arbora already loved Ember, and someone must have warned him about River. I don't know exactly what he said, or how he said it, but the gist was – Pearl had chosen him, and Ember had exactly the power to turn most of the rest of the court against him, if he wanted to."

The idea of Ember scaring River that badly was maybe a little amusing, but Moon snorted. "The rest of the court was against him already. Most of them."

Vine shrugged. "Jade's people, sure, but he had…has…other friends."

Moon made a face at that, because it was hard to imagine River having friends, and Vine sighed again.

"I don't like how River ran things. But I'm also glad I was never in his place. Pearl... wasn't exactly at her best then, and I don't think it did him any good.”

Moon thought that was a funny way of saying that she let him be a total asshole, but then maybe that wasn’t exactly what Vine meant. Did Vine think he would have been the same? Moon hadn’t known anything about the Raksura when he’d arrived, but now that he’d seen the court running more smoothly, it was easier to see how dysfunctional things really had been. But that was probably about as close to the answer he was going to get without going to the source. “Thanks,” he said, putting down his tea cup.

Ember wasn’t hard to find or difficult to talk to, usually, but Moon still wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. At least if he was rude about it, Ember would smooth it over somehow, probably, so eventually he decided to just be direct. Moon found him in his bower reading, and leaned in the doorway.

As soon as he noticed Moon, Ember sat up, tucking away the book. “Hello Moon,” he said, “is there something I can help you with?”

“Nothing important, really. I’m just wondering - what did you say to River that’s got him so afraid of you?” 

From the apprehensive look on his face, Moon wondered whether Ember might think he was looking to duplicate the effect. “Oh,” he said, pausing for a moment. “That.” He looked back up at Moon. “Nothing that I am proud of… but I didn’t think it would be of any interest to you.”

“It’s not, really.” Moon wasn’t sure why he did find it interesting. “It’s just weird.”

“Weird that anyone would be afraid of me? I suppose so.” He frowned, looking more distressed over something that had happened so long ago now. “I told him that I couldn’t imagine Pearl or the Arbora tolerating the mistreatment of a Consort. I’d heard enough by then, to know it would be a second offense, and…” Ember seemed to shrink in on himself some. “I...might have implied...that if Pearl really wanted to get rid of him, she could.”

Moon’s eyebrows shot up. Well. “And he believed that?” Moon wasn’t sure if he meant exile or death, but it seemed extreme either way.

“I didn’t think he would, or I wouldn’t have ever said it. But I don’t know what happened with him and Pearl.”

As shocking as the details of the exchange were, Moon was almost as surprised to realize how badly Ember still felt about it. In retrospect, his actions the day before read more like someone who desperately wanted to change the subject than someone who was completely blasé. And that was a little weird in and of itself. “I’m sure you could find some way to smooth things over, if you wanted.”

But Ember shook his head, settling his shoulders the way one might try and stop their spines from flicking in agitation. “I can’t.” He looked away, and clearly didn’t mean to say anymore. Moon had been around Stone enough now to know how to deal with that kind of reticence, and let the silence linger until Ember gave in. “Pearl won’t let me. I think she’d rather keep us apart.”

Moon snorted - it was typical of her to avoid dealing with something if she didn’t have to, and it probably made her life easier this way. Even if the ’problem’ was just that her ex-lover was an asshole, whereas Ember was like… Moon wasn’t sure. Something sweet and precious, anyway, like a consort was supposed to be. “Well that’s one way of dealing with the problem.” Even if it was making Ember upset.

“I think she wants to protect me, that’s all.”

Now it was Moon’s turn to shake his head. “River’s not going to do anything.” He didn’t have the support, and he didn’t have anything to gain. Ember was too well loved.

“I… I didn’t mean from him,” Ember said quietly.

This time the silence was Moon’s bafflement as he tried to make sense of that. Vine had said something, too, about Pearl being bad for River, hadn’t he? But Pearl would never hurt Ember, he was sure of that. “Right,” he said after a moment. “Look, whatever it is, whatever she thinks you might be scared of… or whatever she might be scared of, I’m pretty sure you can handle it.”

“You’re right…” Ember drew himself up, looking more confident. “I should talk her.” 

“Uhh, good.” Moon nodded. It was probably the kind of conclusion a sensible person would draw from what he had said, even if it wasn’t what he himself would have done.

Ember smiled. “Thank you, Moon. You are a good First Consort.”


End file.
